(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inverter and a lamp driver having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a configuration for controlling switching of an inverter switch.
(b) Description of the Related Art
An inverter transforms a DC voltage (current) into an AC voltage (current). The inverter is a DC-AC power transformer in which an average input power is transmitted from a DC side to an AC side. Types of invertors include a full-bridge inverter, a half-bridge inverter, and a push-pull inverter. They are distinguished according to an operation for transforming a DC voltage (current) into an AC voltage (current). The full-bridge inverter uses four switch elements, and the half-bridge inverter and the push-pull inverter use two switch elements. For the half-bridge inverter and the push-pull inverter, when two switches are turned off, each body diode of two switches are alternately turned on and a current flows through the turned-on body diode. A voltage drop at both terminals of the turned-on body diode is generated. Power consumption is generated by the current flowing through the turned-on body diode and the voltage drop at both terminals of the turned-on body diode.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.